Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Invention of Photography, the Netherlands, and the Dutch East Indies
- Chapter 2 Journeys Completed and Journeys to Come in Indonesian Photography
- Chapter 3 Portraits of Power: From Aristocracy to Democracy
- Chapter 4 The Dance Photographs of Walter Spies and Claire Holt: A Biographical Study
- Chapter 5 Mid-century European Modernism and the March Towards Independence: Gotthard Schuh, Cas Oorthuys, Niels Douwes Dekker, and Henri Cartier-Bresson
- Chapter 6 A Short History of IPPHOS (Indonesian Press Photographic Services)
- Chapter 7 Art Photography in Indonesia: J.M. Arastath Ro’is, Trisno Sumardjo, and Zenith Magazine
- Chapter 8 Journalistic Circus: A Look at Photojournalism in Indonesia and the History of the Antara Gallery of Photojournalism
- Chapter 9 Reflections on Reformasi Photography (from the Vantage Point of the 2014 Elections)
- Chapter 10 New Media Culture
- Chapter 11 Development of Photographic Education in Indonesia
- Chapter 12 MES 56: Souvenirs from the Past
- Chapter 13 Hybrid Forms in the Practice of the Ruang MES 56 Photography Collective
- Chapter 14 Outsiders
- Chapter 15 On Silence, Seeking, and Speaking: Meditations on Identity, Photography, and Diaspora Through Family Albums
- Chapter 16 A City on the Move: Bandung Today
- Chapter 17 Urban Parallax: Jakarta Through A Street Photographer’s Lens
- Afterward: The Earth Beneath My Feet:Identity, Family, and Family Life
- Selected Bibliography
- Contributors
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- A Note On the Publication
- Colophon
Chapter 13 - Hybrid Forms in the Practice of the Ruang MES 56 Photography Collective
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2024
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Invention of Photography, the Netherlands, and the Dutch East Indies
- Chapter 2 Journeys Completed and Journeys to Come in Indonesian Photography
- Chapter 3 Portraits of Power: From Aristocracy to Democracy
- Chapter 4 The Dance Photographs of Walter Spies and Claire Holt: A Biographical Study
- Chapter 5 Mid-century European Modernism and the March Towards Independence: Gotthard Schuh, Cas Oorthuys, Niels Douwes Dekker, and Henri Cartier-Bresson
- Chapter 6 A Short History of IPPHOS (Indonesian Press Photographic Services)
- Chapter 7 Art Photography in Indonesia: J.M. Arastath Ro’is, Trisno Sumardjo, and Zenith Magazine
- Chapter 8 Journalistic Circus: A Look at Photojournalism in Indonesia and the History of the Antara Gallery of Photojournalism
- Chapter 9 Reflections on Reformasi Photography (from the Vantage Point of the 2014 Elections)
- Chapter 10 New Media Culture
- Chapter 11 Development of Photographic Education in Indonesia
- Chapter 12 MES 56: Souvenirs from the Past
- Chapter 13 Hybrid Forms in the Practice of the Ruang MES 56 Photography Collective
- Chapter 14 Outsiders
- Chapter 15 On Silence, Seeking, and Speaking: Meditations on Identity, Photography, and Diaspora Through Family Albums
- Chapter 16 A City on the Move: Bandung Today
- Chapter 17 Urban Parallax: Jakarta Through A Street Photographer’s Lens
- Afterward: The Earth Beneath My Feet:Identity, Family, and Family Life
- Selected Bibliography
- Contributors
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- A Note On the Publication
- Colophon
Summary
It was October 2014, my first year of living in Yogyakarta, when I visited Ruang MES 56 (ruang meaning space) at the invitation of Wimo Ambala Bayang, one of the founding members. The collective was just moving into a fairly large space with a front yard on Jl. Mangkuyudan, near the touristic cluster of the city in the southern part of Yogyakarta, or simply known as Jogja. Six years later and looking back at this moment, this year marked a significant transition in the life and configuration of the collective as it entered a different phase by settling in a new space with long-term commitments. In 2020, the rental was extended for another decade and was completely renovated using governmental funds.
Ruang MES 56 was officially initiated in 2002 as a collective of photography students who shared ideas, views, materials, and a dormitory space where they began experimenting with contemporary photography techniques and concepts. It included a handful of students from the Photography Department at Institut Seni Indonesia or ISI (Indonesian Art Institute) in Yogyakarta, and slowly grew into a small community whose members fluctuated from just a few to two dozens, while its current configuration includes around 17 male artists and cultural producers. The founding members continue to hold active positions as gatekeepers working along with a younger generation of artists who have organically become part of the collective, while others were recruited by former director Woto Wibowo (known as Wok the Rock). Apart from the collective, all members are active contributors to the dynamic local art scene, some taking side jobs or developing projects as managers and organizers, while others became established full-time artists.
As one of the most long-lasting art collectives in Indonesia, MES 56’s practice needs to be looked at not only from its relation with the medium of photography, but as a practice of open-ended actions, series, processes and projects. This requires a reflection on the manifold manifestations in which the medium of photography is appropriated by both individuals and the collective as a whole, in its intimate relation with the internal dynamics and external shifting contexts.
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- Information
- A History of Photography in IndonesiaFrom the Colonial Era to the Digital Age, pp. 307 - 344Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2022